13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
JAY
My apartment door slammed shut behind me a moment before I was knocking on Sarah’s door. I didn’t even wait for Nora to make a sound. I needed Sarah to know I was here because of her and not just Nora.
When she opened the door wearing a tight red sweater that clung to her large tits, with red painted lips to match, I couldn’t stop the groan that slipped out.
We were heading into dangerous territory. I wanted this woman, but I needed her to know that it wasn’t just physical. I enjoyed spending time with her, texting about fantasy football, or just laughing at some stupid show we were watching.
“Are you coming in?”
Blinking back to consciousness, I nodded. Guess I couldn’t stand here all night staring at her. I stepped forward, and when she tilted her head back to look up at me, I reached out and tucked one of her curls behind her ear. “You look amazing in this sweater.”
With that, I brushed past her with a smirk.
She opened her mouth but closed it again and shook her head, moving away from the door.
“Do you like Indian food?”
I scooped Nora up into my arms from where she sat on the floor and turned back toward Sarah. “Love it.”
“Perfect. I’m making chicken tikka masala.”
“Sounds great. Want to watch a movie tonight or more Brooklyn Nine-Nine ?”
She tilted her head to the side, her expression thoughtful.
A movie meant more time together, so I was secretly hoping she picked that option.
“A movie sounds good.”
Fighting the urge to pump a fist, I moved to the island and set Nora on it with my arms braced on either side. Sarah followed, padding back to the stove. This had also become part of our routine over the last week. I would sit with Nora and talk to Sarah as she made dinner.
Tonight, the topic of conversation was the changes she should make to her fantasy roster before Sunday’s game. Her family always counted her out by late October because she stopped checking it. I planned to change that. We were three weeks into November. My hope was that when she went to her family’s Thanksgiving next week, she’d arrive with a fresh win in her pocket .
“If I beat my cousin Tim this week, he’s going to lose his mind.” She looked back at me over her shoulder and smirked.
“Well, then he’ll lose his mind. As long as nothing crazy happens this week, you have a good chance.” The rest of the night went perfectly, although I spent the entire evening in various degrees of hard. Every time she bent even slightly forward, her large tits in that tight red sweater looked like they were ready to pop out.
I was a mix of relieved and disappointed when she announced that she was going to put Nora down for bed. As much as I needed a moment where I wasn’t imagining her full breasts spilling out of that damn sweater, I also wasn’t ready for the night to be over.
Once I’d loaded the last of the dishes from dinner, I shut the dishwasher. I’d just started it when Sarah stepped into the kitchen.
She shook her head. “She went right down. Lately, she’s been getting better about sleeping in her crib.” With her lips pressed together in a small smile, she scanned the kitchen. “You did the dishes?”
I shrugged. “I just loaded the dishwasher. You cooked. I cleaned up. It was the rule in my house growing up. When Mom made dinner, one of us was responsible for cleanup.”
She sighed. “You didn’t have to.”
How many times did I need to tell this woman that I wanted to ? Maybe it was time I showed her instead. I closed the space between us, and when her eyes widened and she tilted her head back, blinking at me, I couldn’t help but smirk. I cupped her cheek with one hand as I trailed the other one down her shoulder and grasped her hip.
“I’ve thought about kissing you almost every second of the day since we were interrupted the other night.”
Her eyes drifted closed, and she hummed a sound of satisfaction. “Me too. ”
Good. I wanted to satisfy her in other ways, but for now, I needed to finally find out what her lips tasted like.
I brushed the hair from her cheek and ran my fingers through her long curls. Fisting them in my hand, I brought my mouth down on hers. Her warm lips moved against mine as I deepened the kiss, thrusting my tongue inside. I pulled her body flush against mine, knowing full well she could feel the effect a simple kiss was having on me.
When I released her, she stepped back out of my embrace, chest heaving and eyes wide.
My heart thumped in my chest. Was she surprised by the kiss or regretting it?
Questions flitted through her eyes as she brought her fingers up to her slightly swollen lips.
Her phone chimed from the island countertop, and for a moment, she just stared at me. Finally, she let out a breath and picked it up.
The instant she unlocked the screen, her body went stiff, and she gasped.
Stomach sinking, I stepped up behind her, and when I saw the text on the screen, it dropped straight to the floor.
You’ve always looked good in red.
Maybe I could have let her play this one off as a wrong number if she weren’t wearing a bright red sweater.
“This isn’t a wrong number.” I said over her shoulder. “Is it Drew?”
“What?” She spun around, eyes wider than before, and clasped her phone to her chest.
“Tell me, Sarah.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
Shoulders slumping, she turned and shuffled into the living room. The moment she sank onto the sofa, I knew I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.
As Sarah recounted the story of how he’d beaten her when she was four months pregnant, landing him an eighteen-month incarceration, my blood pressure skyrocketed. Fuck.
He’d only been released a month ago, apparently for good behavior. I gritted my teeth at that last part.
“Looking back, maybe I should have called the police that night he got me pregnant instead of giving him what he wanted. But it was easier to give in to him when he got angry than it was to stand up for myself. It was the only thing that stopped him from hurting me.”
Heart cracking, I cleared my throat. “How long?” I’d probably regret asking for more details, but I needed to know. The more information I had, the better equipped I’d be to protect her.
She dropped her chin, wringing her hands in her lap. “How long were we together?”
I nodded.
“Two years. Things were okay—not great, but not bad either—until a month after we moved in together.” She pressed her lips together and inhaled a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “After that first time, when he put bruises around my neck, I learned that it was much easier to be complacent and let him do what he wanted.”
My jaw locked tighter. I’d never contemplated murder until that moment.
“After I finally left, I thought I was free.” Her voice cracked, and tears crested her lashes. “I filed a restraining order, and when I found out I was pregnant, I thought that as long as I never admitted that the baby was his, it would be fine. But he found out about my pregnancy, and when I wouldn’t tell him the truth, it made him the angriest I’d ever seen him. ”
Her tears came faster then, the sight hitting me like a punch to the gut. I wrapped one arm around her and pulled her into my side. Fuck. For the first time in my adult life, I was at a loss as to what to do. Half of me wanted to sit here and hold her for as long as she needed, and the other half wanted to find Drew and throttle him.
“We should look into who’s sending the texts.” If it was Drew, we needed to take action. The guy was obviously prone to violence, and these situations almost always escalated.
She nodded against my shoulder. “I talked to my lawyer after the last text, just to be sure. All he could find out is that they are coming from a disposable cell.” She lifted her head to look at me, her eyes still shimmering with tears. “He’s trying to dig deeper, but without proof that it’s Drew, there’s nothing we can do.”
“I know someone at the police department. I can ask him to look into it too.” I didn’t mention the conversation Kyle and I had a few days ago. If she got upset about the overstep, I’d take the blame. Sarah didn’t have many friends, and Tina seemed to be the closest. There was no way I’d mess that up for her.
She shook her head. “You don’t have to?—”
I took her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. “Sarah, please stop telling me I don’t have to. I know that. But I want to. I want to make sure you and Nora are safe. And happy. I want to be here.” I swallowed hard as her eyes continued to widen with my words. “Let me do this, please.”
Maybe she didn’t want me here as much as I wanted to be here. But as she searched my face, she nodded.
Hit with a wave of relief, I pressed my lips to her forehead.